16-1-70 Four Break 100m.p.h. Barrier in Practice By Peter Greenslade FoUR drivers had broken the 100 nailes an hour barries and another four or five were nudging it before the end of the first practice session this morning for to-morrow's Lady Wigram Trophy race. Apparently leading the 102.35 miles an hour in his! Just below the century came National Gold Star Champion 2.5 litre Brabham Cosworth Graeme Lawrence ‹2.4 Ferships series, Graham McRae, Ford V8. rari V6), winner of the Levin of Wellington, worked his Me- Bell was not using the tyres international race, Mike Goth Laren MI0A up to 103.89 miles he intends to use for qualify (Surtees TS5) and Max Stewart an hour for one round of the ing and also in the race to- • (1.85 Mildren Waggott). 2.3 miles aerodrome circuit, morrow. Most of the other overseas. then came in to report gear- He seemed confident that be visitors were not far behind. box trouble which might could improve considerably. One of the first to strike necessitate a. change before ¡trouble was the Sydney milqualifying runs for grid posi- But the Englishman was lionaire, land developer, Neil tions late this afternoon. not happy about the amount Allen, who hit a marker drum of oil which had been spilt in the loop and in the process The New Zealand Grand on the course. Prix winner, Frank Matich, knocked a wheel off his Me. was second fastest with 102.48 The winner of the first inter- Laren MIOB. The American Mike Goth, miles an hour in his McLaren national race of the season at MI0A. Bay Park, Mount Maunganui, who was second fastest quali- Fifth In last year's race, (McLaren MIOA) fier for the grand prix last Sat-l Englishman Derek Bell made managed 100.85 miles an hour. urday, spun off the course at exceptionally fast Bomb Bay bend which leads into the back straight, and his Surtees travelled some hundreds yards on the grass. However, he joined the circuit and late in the session bad another spin-up at Club Corner, the entrance to the pit straight. Advantageous The fast Bomb Bay bend obviously proved advantageous for the 2.5 litre Tasman Formula cars. After his training run Bei told me he was able to hola I the 5-litre Fermula A-5000 on the back straight because ne was able to take the Bomb Bay so much faster. The Wigram lap record of 105.08 miles an hour was set in the trophy race last year by the Austrian Jochen Rindt (2.5 Lotus Cosworth Ford V8) and New Zealander Chris Amon 1(2.5 Ferrari V6). The Wigram race constitutes the third round in the sevenrace Tasman championship series. Points at present are: Matich and Lawrence 13 points each, Bell and Stewart § each, Grable and Goth 3 90), Kevin Bartlet 20 Mil drum Waggott and Dennis Marwood (Eisert Chevrolet) 2! each. The Motor Racing Club, which promotes the meeting, moved in with a team of volunteer helpers to transform the taxiways of the operational aerodrome into a racing circuit last night and by 10 a.m.i to-day grandstands, the time keepers' stand, pit area and paddock were all ready for use and practice got under way at 11 a.m. FAHEY LAPS IN RECORD TIME The Papakura saioon car driver, Paul Fahey, this afternoon put in an early bid for the South Island Mercury 1000 series when he lapped in Imin 39sec-83.64 miles an hourthe fastest saloon car lap recorded at Wigram. The saloon car record is reputedly 86.08 miles an hour and that was returned by a Farrari grand touring carnot a true saloon-by Australian Spencer Martin, some years ago. Escort powered by a Cosworth Fahey was driving a Fore Ford FVA engine. Ameriean driver Bill Simpson opens up the throttle of his Eagle-Chevrolet down the front straight during practice laps at Wigram to-day for to-morrow's Lady Wigram Irophy event.